News

Cooldini Continues Top Form At Flemington

22nd Jun 2013

AAP - Mathew Toogood - Saturday 22 June, 2013

Another dominant staying performance on the flat hasn't changed Robert Smerdon's desire to try Cooldini over the jumps this season.

Cooldini stamped himself as the horse to beat in the $100,000 Banjo Paterson Series Final in two weeks with a 2-1/4-length win as odds-on favourite in a heat of the series over 2520m at Flemington on Saturday.

The three-year-old has emerged as a winter staying find with wins in his past three starts in between schooling over jumps.

"If I owned him I would be giving him a jumps start this year and be looking at next year," Smerdon said.

"There's no reason they can't do both."

Smerdon said jumping wasn't on Cooldini's immediate agenda with the Banjo Paterson Final the logical next target.

Ridden by apprentice Chad Schofield, Cooldini ($1.70) settled sixth in the run which was further back than Smerdon had wanted him to be.

Schofield had a big look over his shoulder at the 350-metre mark and then asked the stayer to sprint and he pulled away to defeat Final Folly.

Sahara Sun and Police Gazette shared third, another short half-head away.

"When he got that far back in a slowly run race it was not an ideal thing but he's overcome that to win which is to the horse's credit," Smerdon said.

Schofield maintained an unbeaten record on Cooldini, with wins on the stayer either side of his most recent suspension.

Cooldini (3g Bernardini x Eliza Dane was a $40,000 purchase by Cameron Cooke Bloodstock from the draft of Three Bridges Thoroughbreds at the 2011 Inglis Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale.

The progressive three-year-old has won $215,265 for his connections so far thanks to five wins and one placing from 12 career starts.